Monday, September 08, 2008

Is the view of 5th Ave good from the stadium?

Oh, Scott, your comment on the previous post makes me laugh...

"Was Tom Brady my quarterback on my Fantasy football team?"

My only dedication to Fantasy football is making sure Matthew is dedicated enough to win his $15 back.

Yep, he put money on his team.

Don't judge. You can cheer him along with me and hope he wins the the whole shebang...he doesn't have Tom Brady either so his chances are looking up.

So, since I clearly am not mourning the loss of my first-round-pick QB (you like that, how I included some FF chatter? I pay attention.), why am I so distraught about Tom Brady's demise?

Let's go back a little bit:
Matthew's dad (aka Pops) grew up loving Mickey Mantle and The Yankees. You know, back when baseball wasn't about the money but more about the team that you played on (I'm just quoting here, not my actual opinion).

Pops has never been to Yankee stadium. He just turned 59. And as far as I'm concerned, it's a crying shame that he has never been to New York in all those 59 years.

He's been to South Africa. But not New York...in America.

Well, Yankee Stadium is being torn down this year.

It was a news flash for me too.

My thoughtful husband got this idea in his head a few months ago that his dad had to go to Yankee Stadium before it was torn down. He's sweet that way...thinking of others.

So, he talked to his sisters and brother to see if they wanted to go too. A big surprise for Pops!

Unbeknownst (love that word) to Pops we have been secretly planning: "Kidnap Pops to NY 2008".

Matthew's step-mom (aka LeeLee) obviously has been in on the planning and doing her best to keep the surprise hidden.

However, we all underestimated Pops deep, DEEP love for golf. Seriously underestimated.

He announced to LeeLee about a week ago that he was entering in a golf tournament. The same weekend he didn't know he was supposed to be fulfilling his childhood dreams.

So, she had to let the cat out of the bag and explain that he was the guest of honor at a special party that several thousand people were going to be at. And shortly after that party, the "party place" was going to be torn down.

At first Pops doesn't believe her. According to the story we heard, it took several moments of him saying, "You lying to me...a surprise trip? No, your lying to me! My kids wouldn't do that. You're kidding me!" You get the idea.

Now that Pops is on board with the trip, he is pretty excited.

Okay, now let me sidebar for a second...

When Matthew ran the New York idea past me, I gave it two thumbs up...way up. Visions of Tiffanys, Broadway shows, visit to Ground Zero, Times Square, Statue of Liberty, knock-off purse shopping in Chinatown, and star sighting danced through my head. Then he told me about the Yankees game and I quickly reconfigured my touristy plans to accommodate the game and figured, with some extra quick walking and a little bit less sleep, I would still be able to hit all of the hot spots.

AND I was excited about some one on one time with my husband. Stealing some moments with just him, walking peacefully down 5th Avenue, taking in all the sights, hand in hand were also thoughts that went through my head.

Crazy thoughts is what they were.

Back to Pops...
He lives in Southern Mississippi. Home of one famous star quarterback, who happens to play golf at the same country club as Pops. This same quarterback is playing with his brand-new team that same weekend, in New York (well, New Jersey really). The QB's agent also lives in this southern town and Pops knows him.

He knows him so well that he felt no qualms about asking him for some tickets to the football game.

And he got them, eight of them, with parking passes.

Which is funny because we need subway passes, or bus passes, or ferry passes.

I have no idea how we are supposed to get there.

Our Sunday in New York is shaping up like this:
*Get to Yankee Stadium about 11am to walk around outside park to look at memorials.
*Watch game (starts about 1pm)
*Leave game before it is over. I know, I know this is the REASON we are going to NYC, so why are we leaving early? Because...
*We have to hightail it to the New York Jets game, which is just 14 miles away, but I'm sure takes tourists hours to get to.
*Watch Jets...and hopefully get to see famous QB from Mississippi

Do you hear my touristy plans crashing down all around me? The sound is deafening from where I sit.

To console myself, I went to see who the Jets were playing next Sunday. I figured it would be some loser team who had never won anything.

Nope. It's the Patriots.

Maybe you have heard of them.

They may have won one or three Super Bowls. And they have kind of a famous quarterback.

WHO IS INJURED!!!!!

As soon as I saw that the Jets were playing TOM BRADY, I immediately forgot about my plans for statues and purses. I mean, Tom Brady!

And now, he's hurt.

Since he's not playing maybe he would like to come sit in the seats, beside me.

Or, since he's free, maybe he would like to go to China Town with me and shop for knock-off designer handbags.

And then we can go jump on the piano at FAO Schwartz.

No, probably not, his knee hurts.

I guess my souvenir will be a jersey. And a hotdog.

post signature

10 comments:

Marty Rhea Hill said...

Or maybe when you and Tom are sight-seeing, he can bring Gisele and maybe she has some old REAL handbags (Dallas, really...purse? You know I hate that word.) that she will give you. So, you can sight-see, get real bags, and see the famous people all in one.

You sure are funny. I am glad you are back to your old blogger self. Love you.

Amy said...

Hysterical. I really hope you get to do some shopping, somehow.
You know, the only reason I'm potty-training Luke is that he initiated it. It's still exhausting reminding him to go and watching for accidents, but he's doing so well going on the potty. It's crazy easy for him. Makes me a proponent of waiting til they're ready. Of course, you could be buying diapers for another year. But Luke's not typical, so surely your time would be shorter.

TeamBortzfield said...

Loved the post, you'll have a great time in NYC my advice is that you sing every show tune you know until the family just drops you off in Times Square to get rid of you, they'd probably send Matthew with you becuase NYC is "not safe" according to the boomers...just ask Pat and Sharon who chaperoned my trip with Sister last year.
(purse purse purse, love you Marty, I wish you had a blog)

Kim said...

You are so funny.
What a fantastic idea for Matthew's dad. I hope the trip is the great movie idea in your head.
I see things that way, too. And most of the times they end up with an alternate ending. Even so, enjoy New York! (my favorite place)
Don't forget Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity's if you get the chance!!

Anonymous said...

thank your for a much needed laugh this morning!! all my questions have been answered and i want to jump in your suitcase and go with you. baseball and football are my most fave sports...sounds like the perfect day to me! pops is a lucky man to have matthew as a son! enjoy and can't wait to read all about your adventures when you return.

love you, leslie :)
ps...eat a hot dog at yankee stadium for me...they are yummy!!

The Rickard 5 said...

Maybe you can get him to plan a return trip around all of your plans next time....maybe we should just go without husbands or kids, maybe as a ladies "week" out.. so we can do what we want! I think that doing this for his dad is really incredibly sweet...don't tell the employee of the week! LOL WINK! WINK!

Summer said...

What a fun trip...even if you don't get a lot of time for knock-off bag shopping. I hope you have a great time. Who knows- maybe you will end up on TV while at the game?
Thanks for yet another entertaining blog entry!

Sara said...

You are hilarious! Your weekend sounds awesome and what a sweet husband you have to think of his dad. So sweet!

Enjoy!

Mary Jo said...

Love reading that! You know, just being in THE NY is awesome, you'll have a great time anyway. I'd love to be in on the return trip Sherry described. Hope you have a great time on your adventure! PS - glad I know what to call my sack that carries all the important stuff women need. I will teach everyone I know the correct term! mj

Sharon Hamilton said...

I'm thinking you could look for a pocket book in China Town.

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